The present invention refers to a hand winder for winding and unwinding a line, cable or the like.
Handling of lines, wires, cables, hoses etc. often causes substantial problems. Lines are frequently stored either loosely in a circular configuration or wound on a bobbin or reel. If stored in a circular configuration a line easily becomes tangled when it is being paid out. If a line is wound on a spool or reel problems occur in paying the line out sufficiently fast, particularly when it is desired to throw the line and thereby achieve a substantial length of throw.
When a line is to be drawn-in or rewound, this usually has to be done by hand. The line is then liable to cut the hand, and it may also be difficult to seize the line reliably, particularly if the line is dirty or wet, and more particularly in cold weather. When the line is drawn-in by hand this usually results in a loose tangle of line lying at the feet of the operator, and this could be dangerous in certain situations. Reels, bobbins or the like hitherto known for winding and storing of lines, cables or the like do not provide for an effective and fast drawing-in of a line.
Examples of conventional winding and unwinding devices for lines, cables and the like are disclosed in French patent publication No. 2,390,360 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,529.